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Category Archives: makeup/beauty

I had a bad habit in high school of building up my makeup collection to the point of excess, inspired by beauty gurus on YouTube who had a whole room devoted to their makeup collections. At one time I remember having 14 different mascaras on hand, which was a point of pride in my young life. But because makeup doesn’t have an unlimited shelf life and since I actually didn’t wear makeup every day, I ended up wasting a lot of products that weren’t my favorite.

Lately I’ve made it a point not to buy things I don’t need. Even if I’m not living a clutter-free, minimal life, my goal is still to do more with less. I love to try new products, but I make an effort not to buy a new eyebrow pencil when I have one I’m still using. If I buy a product that really doesn’t work for me I return it or give it to a friend who will use it.

These products are favorites that I not only used up, but became a part of my daily routine, and I have repurchased at least once.

Bite matte creme lip crayon in Glacé

So to be technical, I used up a sample size of this baby, not a full size, but I have never purchased a full-size product of a sample so to me this counts! This is also the product that got me hooked on Bite as a brand, and now I own at least a dozen of their amuse bouche lipsticks and matte creme lip crayons. This color is my favorite and the formula is super smooth and moisturizing.

Glossier milky jelly cleanser

This is one of the first Glossier skincare products I purchased. I already owned and loved boy brow and the lip products, but I am pretty picky about skincare. I wasn’t a huge fan of the cleanser at first until I started using it in the shower to remove my makeup and clean my face all at once. I love jelly texture and the subtle scent, and it is very gentle on my sensitive skin.

Kiss New York Professional fine precision brow pencil

This is hands-down my favorite brow pencil. Kiss NY Pro sent me a box of their products to try last spring, so I have been using this for a year and have tried several products since, and it’s still the best. I wrote a whole post about how I do my brows with this product, so you can read that if you want more info.

Glossier boy brow

Boy brow has a cult-like following among Glossier fans, but to be honest when I first purchased it I didn’t think it lived up to the hype. My brows were pretty sparse from over-plucking, and it didn’t give me the shape and thickness that I needed. Once I spent a summer growing out my brows, boy brow became the perfect product to swipe on in a hurry if I’m doing natural makeup before work, or as a finishing touch after I’ve already filled my brows in with a pencil if I’m doing a full face of makeup.

Bare Minerals matte foundation

I prefer powder foundation over liquid, and I’ve been using this matte foundation powder for years. It gives great coverage despite being a powder and has a broad range of colors to chose from.

Essence lash princess

I’ve only recently started using Essence products after reading/watching a lot of great reviews online, and while I really love the brand as a whole, my favorite product has to be the raved-about lash princess mascara. It gives great length, volume, and curl, and is only $5 at Target or Ulta.